Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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With You Jingyan absent, You Xu was the most powerful. Aside from leaving the Medicine Spirit Valley, no one dared stop her from going wherever she wanted within the valley.
After searching around without finding the containment bracelet, You Xu went to her brother’s room and actually found it in a drawer.
She took out a letter she had already written and placed it on the table, then gathered her belongings to prepare for her escape.
A bed, a soft couch, various medicines, dried meat… You Xu suddenly realized that this containment bracelet was an essential item for escaping from home; with it, she could make a light escape.
“Cui Zhi, let’s go.”
Not daring to linger too long, unsure when You Jingyan would return, they used the same method as before: she hid inside the bracelet, and Cui Zhi led her out.
The journey was smooth, and once they reached a safe area, Cui Zhi released her.
Seeing Cui Zhi’s expression, as if she wanted to persuade her again, You Xu ignored her. She remembered that although she had left a letter for You Jingyan, telling him not to worry, she was still afraid of burdening Cui Zhi. So she took out another letter and gave it to her, saying, “If my brother punishes you, give him this letter, and everything should be fine.”
Cui Zhi wanted to say something, but You Xu just waved goodbye and walked away gracefully.
You Xu first found a corner, took out the aging potion her brother had concocted, and applied it to her face. This potion could temporarily age one’s appearance by fifty years. She also applied some to her neck and hands. After an hour, when the potion took effect and her skin wrinkled, and she finally began her journey.
Traveling alone and without the ability to protect herself, beauty was a danger.
She applied the potion every five hours to maintain her old-woman appearance, and no one gave her a second glance along the way.
After walking for half a day, she realized a problem: where was Black Rock Mountain?
You Xu: “78, send me Shen Jue’s location.”
78 pouted and said, “You don’t have any points.”
“…”
Ah, without points, you can’t move an inch, You Xu thought sadly. She’d better save up points in the future and become a points master.
What to do without a map and navigation? Use the most primitive method— ask for directions.
So You Xu found a kind-looking auntie and asked, “Excuse me, how do I get to Black Rock Mountain?”
The auntie glanced at her and said, “Who would know how to get to Black Rock Mountain? Ordinary people can’t get there.”
The women who were chatting idly instantly exploded when they heard the words Black Rock Mountain.
“I heard that a great demon king lives there and eats people’s hearts.”
“It’s full of man-eating demons, it’s too scary, why would anyone want to go there to die?”
“I also heard that the river there is red all year round, and the corpses are piled up as high as mountains.”
….
They talked all at once. You Xu listened for a while, but didn’t get any useful information, so she left. She asked several different people but still couldn’t get any answers.
She thought that she couldn’t catch a demon to ask, so she could only search aimlessly.
Although her body had improved considerably thanks to her efforts, the long journey was still too much for her. If it weren’t for the food and medicine stored in her containment bracelet, she would have died on the streets long ago.
Sometimes she could hitch a ride on a horse-drawn carriage or donkey cart. After traveling for half a month like this, she had passed through about three or four counties and arrived at a small village. Just as she was about to rest, she found the entire village gathered by the large river at the village entrance.
She wasn’t one to join in on crowds and initially didn’t want to pay attention, but hearing the children crying, she couldn’t help but go forward to see what was going on.
As she pushed through the crowd, she overheard most of what was happening. The gist was that their village was within the territory of a certain demon, and that demon liked to eat children’s hearts. Therefore, they had to send five children away every six months to ensure the safety of the entire village.
You Xu grasped the key phrase “eats hearts” and hurriedly squeezed to the front.
There was a large bamboo raft on the riverbank, and five children— two boys and three girls— were tied together, all crying hoarsely, their eyes red and swollen.
You Xu glanced at the crowd around her. Some were sobbing uncontrollably, some were weeping, some were angry but dared not speak out, some were fearful, and some were numb.
You Xu stepped forward and said, “May I ask if I can ride on the bamboo raft with you?”
Upon hearing this, everyone, regardless of their previous expressions, instantly became shocked. After a moment of silence, a cacophony of voices surged forth.
“Is this old woman tired of living?”
“This is the first time I’ve heard of someone willingly offering themselves up to a demon.”
“What happened to her that made her so despondent?”
A younger woman spoke to her kindly, “Do you know that once you ride on this bamboo raft, you’re gone forever?”
Faced with the crowd’s discussions and pointing fingers, You Xu thanked the woman and boarded the bamboo raft, holding tightly to the edge for fear someone would pull her off.
The gray-haired village chief glanced at her, showing no concern that an old woman could save the children, and simply said, “It’s getting late, we should let them go.”
Two strong fishermen came out and pushed the bamboo raft into the river. At that moment, cries pierced the sky.
The women on the bank cried until they fainted, while the children on this side cried uncontrollably. You Xu gently patted the children’s backs to help them catch their breath.
The bamboo raft drifted further and further away with the current, and the people on the bank disappeared from sight. The children cried incessantly. Just when they seemed to tire of crying, one would start crying, and another would start crying, one after another.
You Xu untied them and touched each of the little ones.
The little girl sobbed, “I… I’ll never see my parents again.”
The little boy snorted, “I’m afraid of monsters.”
“I wonder if monster bites hurt?”
“Nonsense, of course! We’re going to die, it’ll hurt more than my dad hitting me.”
You Xu took out some jerky from her storage bracelet and distributed it to them. As children from ordinary families, they rarely got to eat meat, so the jerky immediately drew their attention.
“Meat!”
“It smells so good!”
You Xu watched the group of children clutching the jerky in their hands, biting into it with their front teeth, and suddenly felt like she was feeding hamsters.
She noticed a little girl watching others eat with longing but not taking any from her own hand. You Xu asked her, “Why aren’t you eating?”
The little girl wiped away her tears and whispered, “I want to save it for my mother.”
You Xu stroked her head gently and said, “You eat first. I have plenty here. When you come back, I’ll give you more so you can take it to your mother.”
The little girl asked blankly, “Can we come back?”
You Xu wiped her tears and said, “Yes.”
After she finished comforting the children, the bamboo raft stopped in the middle of the river. She noticed the current still had momentum, and there were small whirlpools not far away, but the raft remained as still as a rock.
You Xu began to wonder if she had made a mistake. Could it be an offering to the river demon?
Just then, two people appeared on the raft, one bald and one one-eyed.
The bald man said, “Why are there children again? Didn’t the king say he wouldn’t eat children’s hearts?”
The one-eyed man revealed a cunning glint in his eyes and smiled wickedly, “If the king doesn’t eat them, then we can have them for free!”
The bald man pointed at You Xu and said, “Why is there an old woman here?”
The one-eyed demon didn’t care much: “Who cares? Why not take her? We’ll bring her back too. Who knows, the king might eat her.”
The bald man scratched his head: “So ugly… will the king eat her?”
The one-eyed demon was getting impatient: “Whatever she looks like, her heart is the same.”
You Xu: You want to eat me, and you call me ugly? Is that really okay?
The one-eyed demon grabbed her collar with one hand and the two children with the other, then flew away. The bald man followed closely behind with the remaining children.
You Xu was left hanging in mid-air, unable to breathe, clutching her collar, making muffled sounds like a hanged ghost.
The one-eyed demon ignored her completely. Fortunately, demons could travel thousands of miles and soon arrived at their destination.
In the distance, they saw a large black mountain, with dark flames rising from the crevices of the rocks, and black birds circling around, feeding on carrion.
The sky suddenly darkened, thick, heavy clouds blanketing the mountaintops, flashes of lightning occasionally streaking across the landscape, and the booming thunder sounding like muffled drumbeats.
There was no vegetation, only a monotonous, gray-black landscape.
You Xu: Wow, the environment is so harsh.
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